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Yorba Linda adopts updated safety element, highlights wildfire preparedness
Summary
The council unanimously adopted a general-plan safety-element update aligned with AB 2140 and presented a wildfire-preparedness briefing from OCFA that outlines new operational steps, including 24-hour dozer coverage and drone surveillance.
The Yorba Linda City Council unanimously adopted an updated safety element for the city’s general plan after staff said the changes align the city with recent state wildfire guidance and could affect federal disaster funding eligibility.
The update, presented by Community Development Director Nate Farnsworth and consultant Noel Anderson of Michael Baker International, incorporates the city’s hazard mitigation plan and new wildfire hazard-zone data, evacuation zones and routes, and policy language advised by Cal FIRE and the Board of Forestry. Anderson told the council the city’s compliance with AB 2140 would establish eligibility for a 100% FEMA public-assistance cost share in the event of a disaster; noncompliance would trigger a 6% cost match.
Mayor Carlos Rodriguez and council members emphasized the importance of meeting state requirements and enhancing local safety measures. “We want to do everything we can…to be above reproach on anything related to state requirements and particularly anything we can do to enhance safety in our city,” Rodriguez said during the discussion.
The safety-element vote followed a broader public-safety presentation from Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Mike Morgenstern. Morgenstern said unusually dry spring conditions have pushed fuel moistures to critical levels and that wildfire risk will grow into the summer even without the historically strong Santa Ana winds. He described operational preparations that include placing the first 24-hour bulldozer in service July 1, continued monitoring of 24 wildland cameras, infrared-equipped drone use for hotspot detection and expanded coordination with CAL FIRE and county partners.
Morgenstern urged residents to use OCFA’s Ready, Set, Go resources and home-hardening guidance available at ocfa.org and stressed that local preparedness by households and animal owners is essential to city and county response plans.
The council presented a proclamation declaring the height of wildfire season — midsummer through early autumn — as Wildfire Awareness and Prevention Season and encouraged residents to take steps to reduce ignitions and harden homes.
The safety-element adoption and the OCFA briefing are both scheduled to be part of the city’s public communications and will be used to inform community outreach, evacuation planning and the city’s hazard-mitigation work going forward.
